The Harford County Council was near unanimous in agreeing to a controversial proposal to sell 68.6 acres of county property off of Bel Air's Route 1, known as Mt. Soma, for a water reservoir Tuesday night.
Council members cited concessions by Maryland American Water, such as surrendering future development rights on the property, in explaining why they decided to support the sale.
Maryland American Water, which serves Bel Air and surrounding areas, will use part of the site for a reservoir, technically an "upland impoundment." A previous County Council meeting drew many residents protesting the development along one of the last open spaces on Bel Air's Route 1, and some neighbors said they did not want to have to look at a man made lake.
Councilman Chad Shrodes thanked the county administration for the letter the council got outlining concessions, including the possibility for a future trail and the ability of the development rights to revert to Harford County, if the land is ever subdivided, preventing it from being sold to a third party.
"I do think we met in the middle on this and I appreciate working with the administration. It wasn't easy the entire time, but I appreciate that we got there and I thought this would work out," Shrodes said. "We're now able to provide water to areas around Bel Air."
Shrodes said the site "definitely looks large" and added he does not think we'll have to worry about running out of water."
He also said a trail could possibly be funded by the county and "we're going to come out possibly ahead" with the agreement.
"We're actually going to be further than we have been in the past while also allowing a need for the community on a water source that we will have for an infinite amount of time in the future," Shrodes said.
Shrodes called himself "one of the original Mt. Soma friends," saying he and Mike Pons, a Country Life Farm owner and critic of the bill, drove around the entire property years ago. Shrodes said he believes future Harford County residents will now have this land for future recreation.
Council President Dick Slutzky said the language specific to property coming back to the county and the potential for parks and recreation use "will be codified in the deed as deed restrictions, so that will carry on with anyone who gets the deed to the properties, which under this can only be Harford County government."
Councilman Mike Perrone was alone in opposing the vote, saying he had concerns about rushing it through without enough information.
He said he was still concerned about the details of the project not being finalized and rebutted county public works director Tim Whittie's point about pressure from the state to "get this done in four years."
Perrone said regardless of how many months it may take to do surveying or engineering to determine the exact number of acres, "if it adds a little time to the process I think it is a worthwhile effort to go through."
He said he was also concerned the property is not being put up to auction, which would be the best way to determine a fair price. The undeveloped property is being sold for $459,000.
"If it was privately owned right now, they'd have to pay market value to acquire it," Perrone said. "Disposing of an asset and not getting our money's worth out of it, we're putting ourselves at risk."
Large impoundment
According to county public works and Maryland American officials, the proposed reservoir will cover at least 20 acres and hold an estimated 124 million gallons of water that will be pumped out of Winters Run, the water company's main supply source, which is considered unreliable in periods of prolonged drought. The reservoir will be surrounded by an earthen berm 58 feet high.
The water company has approximately 4,208 residential customers, 596 commercial customers and 43 public buildings in its service area that includes the Town of Bel Air and parts of Fallston and Forest Hill, according to testimony given by a Maryland Public Service Commission staff member in a rate increase case that Maryland American has pending before the commission.
Average daily demand for water from the Maryland American customer base is 1.4 million gallons. While Winters Run's normal flow can meet those demands, the Maryland Department of the Environment, which has jurisdiction over the use of the stream, requires that there be a minimum flow of 6.07 million gallons daily in the vicinity of the company's treatment plant off of Route 1, according to the rate case testimony of Zenon Sushko, of the PSC staff.
In late 2013, the county and Town of Bel Air were stopped by MDE from issuing new building permits in the Maryland American service area until the water company came up with a long-term plan for a reliable back-up water source.
Last fall, the water company, county and Town of Bel Air agreed on a temporary plan raising the amount of water Maryland-American can purchase from the county from 500,000 gallons daily to 540,000. They also proposed building the reservoir on the Mt. Soma property as the main future back-up source. The moratorium was then lifted.
Maryland American officials have not provided a cost estimate for the reservoir, whose design is not completed.
"We anticipate starting preliminary engineering design now and have been meeting with the Maryland Department of Environment to coordinate the regulatory permitting process which will give us a better idea of costs," Samantha Villegas, a Maryland American spokesperson, said Thursday. "We do know from the feasibility study that it will be an expensive project. But that's all we can firmly say at this time."
Villegas said the company estimates it will take approximately four years to complete the reservoir project, "and the clock starts essentially now." She said the company expects to sign a consent order with MDE "any day now."
The sale of the Mt. Soma property must also be approved by the county Board of Estimates.